Monday, December 10, 2012

A close-fitting, brimless winter hat with a small pointy peak. Created for Renee, a West Coast friend who shaved her head and then realized it was cold without hair. She put out the call for hats, and I improvised this for her. Work up very fast in the round.
She described her hat size as “big”, so I made this hat to fit my 23’ head. (People like us are the exception to “one size fits all”, hatwise.) It’s designed with no ease, and would be cozy on a person with a normal-sized bean as well.
Gauge is not vital - using 10s with this bulky yarn gives a soft, cushy fabric, and works well with the self-striping rate of the Charisma.
This project used less than 20 yards of Thick and Quick for the cast-on and ribbing, and a little more than half a skien of Charisma for the body and peak of the hat. The hat in my photos is Charcoal T&Q and Black Raspberry Charisma.
Needles US 10 circular
5 US 10 dpns
1 stitch marker (optional)
Yarn: cc: Lion Brand Woolease Thick and Quick: Charcoal; Super bulky (5) – several yards
Mc: Michaeals Charisma: Black Raspberry; Bulky (4) – less than on skein
Gauge: 3 st/inch in ribbing and in body at rest; 2 st/in stretched.
Directions:
On circulars, using Contrast Color, cast on 46 using Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Cast-on. (This blogpost has a written explanation and links to some tutorial videos: http://curiousknitter.blogspot.com/2009/09/jeny-stretchy-....)
Place marker if desired. Join.
Rounds 1-5: k2, p2aking about an inch of chunky ribbing. )
Round 6: break yarn and switch to Main color. Knit one round.
Round 7: k4, kbf to marker. It doesn’t really matter if how many stitches you add or where you end up - you’re just working in a little volume on this and the next few rows.
Round 8: k7, kfbto marker.
Round 9: k5, kfb to marker. Remove marker.
Rounds 10-24: knit
Rounds 25-27: Purl (You’re making a ridge around the top edge of the crown.)
Round 28: Pick up dpns. Knit round 28 off circs onto dpns, dividing stitches evenly between 4 needles.
Round 29: knit each quarter-round on a dpn. When you come to the last 2 stitches on each needle, k2t. Take care to snug up the first stitch on each dpn by giving your working yarn a good tug before the second stitch.
Round 30: knit.
Repeats rounds 29 and thirty until the center/peak of your hat comes together. When you are down to 8 stitches, transfer them all to one needle and knit 2 icord rows. Bind off (I used a crochet hook to pull the working yarn through the loops and down into the center of the cord.) Weave in ends.
Size: brim: 23 inches stretched; crown 5 in high including ribbing; peak 7 inches